4/26/2023

Lexia joins key literacy voices at World Literacy Summit

Chief Learning Officer Dr. Liz Brooke offers perspective about literacy as a civil right

For the last five years, hundreds of literacy specialists worldwide have come together every other spring to advocate for the vital importance of improving global literacy levels. Thousands more watch the presentations, discussions, and debates virtually.

The event? The World Literacy Summit.

The biennial meeting brings together leaders and educators from 85 countries for the world’s-largest gathering of international literacy experts. It’s a chance to share wisdom across borders and time zones and to learn from the experiences of other cultures and countries.

This year, Lexia’s Chief Learning Officer and host of the All for Literacy podcast Dr. Liz Brooke attended the summit at Oxford University in Oxford, U.K. She offered a new perspective to the group through her presentation about Literacy as a Civil Right—a topic  she explored on the podcast with literacy advocate Kareem Weaver.

Brooke’s advocacy for literacy as a civil right garnered praise and support and was consistent with other common themes of the summit including the science of reading, voice recognition, and artificial intelligence.

Three steps to take to help establish literacy as a civil right

The number of protected civil rights varies by country. Some of the common, overlapping rights include the right to vote, freedom of speech, and a right to an education. Dr. Brooke’s presentation called on countries that include education as a civil right to take things one step further and include a right to literacy.

Knowing how to read goes well beyond being successful in school, and Dr. Brooke emphasized everyone should have access to tools needed to successfully navigate this incredibly complex world. The ability to read means someone can read a ballot in an election, write a letter, read the label on a prescription bottle, and excel at other classes in school.

Dr. Brooke explained that while 95% of students have the capacity to learn to read when instruction is informed by the science of reading, the number of proficient readers in fourth and eighth grades in the U.S. is only around 33% with the numbers even lower for Black and Hispanic students. On top of that, as much as 85% of public-school curriculum is delivered via reading, meaning if a student struggles with literacy they might also have opportunities for growth in other areas.

The presentation culminated with a breakdown of three areas to focus on to drive equitable access to literacy, to further push toward a declaration of literacy as a civil right. First, the situation must be reframed from an achievement gap to an opportunity gap. The reason for the proficiency chasm is not the ability to read but a difference in opportunities to learn. Attention needs to be focused on the opportunities that can be provided to all students moving forward.

Second, every student has the right to have access to teachers who have been properly trained in what the research has shown to be effective. Dr. Brooke revealed that only half of colleges and universities in the U.S. prepare and instruct teachers in these evidence-based methods. And the U.S. is not the only country with this issue. There must be a global effort to empower teachers with the why/how behind students learning to read.

Finally, Dr. Brooke discussed how students must have equal access to high-quality literacy instruction and programs, including high-quality screeners and methods for monitoring progress. Programs must be studied through research and reworked until proven effective. Focusing on these three areas is the first step to driving equitable access to literacy until literacy becomes an official civil right through law.

Dr. Brooke ended her presentation with a powerful reminder: Literacy can and should be for all.

Worldwide literacy hot topics

While not every country faces the same challenges or opportunities when it comes to literacy, several common threads ran through conversations and presentations at the 2023 World Literacy Summit. To start, the desire for literacy improvement was a common topic across many different countries—from the most well-funded to in-crisis nations. Related summit events included the presentation, “Providing Funding and Support for Education in Conflict Zones,” by Education Cannot Wait and a panel discussion of “An International Perspective: Adult Illiteracy and the Impact on Society.”

Artificial intelligence and voice recognition were two other popular topics, and discussions dove deep into whether both were helpful to literacy efforts or if they could potentially hurt students’ progress and long-term success. Related sessions included a panel centered around “How Voice AI Can Help Kids Learn To Read” and the presentation, “Literacy AI and Accountability, the Edsoma Way.”

Perhaps most importantly, discussions about implementing the science of reading were common throughout the summit. Panels, discussions, and presentations discussed the relationship between neuroscience and literacy, the social impact of research and evaluation, and translating theory into practice by implementing research-based principles to enhance literacy acquisition. 

Hear more from Dr. Brooke on the All for Literacy podcast

Thank you to Dr. Brooke and everyone at the World Literacy Summit for spreading literacy knowledge worldwide and helping change the future of literacy across the globe. Home from the U.K., Brooke is back to leading discussions with key industry voices as the host of Lexia’s All for Literacy podcast.

Visit allforliteracy.com to hear her original discussion about literacy as a civil right with Kareem Weaver and other episodes with top literacy specialists.

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